The partnership between SCRIPTS and the German Federal Foreign Office (AA) builds on a cooperation that predates the cluster itself. Since around 2012/13, the AA and Freie Universität Berlin have collaborated on questions of fragile statehood, initially through the Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 700, and formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding in 2018.

Building on this foundation, the AA funded a dedicated "Rule of Law Hub" from 2019 onwards, embedding academic expertise on rule of law promotion in fragile state contexts, including Afghanistan, in a cooperation between FU Berlin and HWR Berlin. From the same year onwards, SCRIPTS deepened this relationship by seconding staff members to the AA, enabling ongoing knowledge exchange on topics including integrated peace engagement, China, the US and Russia's war against Ukraine. A 2021/22 stocktaking of the Berlin University Alliance's (BUA) engagement with federal institutions revealed that the AA ranked second only to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as a partner, providing the impetus to scale the cooperation to the full BUA. Two Exzellenz conferences in 2023 and 2024 institutionalised this broader partnership through five thematic working groups and a stronger involvement of the AA's Policy Planning Staff.

Since 2024, the AA is funding an "Integrated Impact Hub" developed by SCRIPTS together with European University Viadrina and the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg embedding academic expertise in peace and security policy across several conflict regions. Since mid-2025, SCRIPTS and the BUA jointly fund a position within the AA's Policy Planning Staff, systemically institutionalizing knowledge exchange.

Learn more about SCRIPTS' contribution to the Impact Hub on the project website

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SCRIPTS and BUA at the AA Policy Planning Staff

Effective foreign policy increasingly depends on close exchange with academic research, yet the institutional structures to sustain such exchange remain rare. At the same time, researchers benefit from a deeper understanding of the underlying logic and constraints of diplomatic practice. Bridging this gap requires more than occasional exchange; it calls for a sustained institutional presence at the interface of research and diplomacy.

To this end, SCRIPTS and the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) jointly fund a position seconded to the Policy Planning Staff of the German Federal Foreign Office, the unit directly reporting to the Foreign Minister and responsible for analysing medium and long-term foreign policy developments. Over a period of two years, the liaison coordinates demand-driven exchanges and joint activities between SCRIPTS, BUA, and the ministry, translating research findings into policy-relevant insights while bringing the logic of diplomatic practice back into the academic sphere.

Project Team – SCRIPTS / Freie Universität Berlin

• Henrik von Homeyer